Our Experience Raising Chickens And Ducks In Heart 2 Heart Farms

A little over a month ago Joe and I purchased two chicks and two ducklings

. When we bought the chicks they were 3 days old. The breeds are Americana and Barred Plymouth Rock. The ducklings were an unlisted breed which we have identified as a Black Indian Runner and a breed with an Afro. We were very impulsive and did no research beforehand. Our first tip is knowing the costs involved and buy what youll need before purchasing your birds. Youll need a red brooder lamp and light clamp. These can be purchased at most hardware and feed stores. Sadly, most stores were sold out of the red bulbs early in the spring, so we had to settle with white. White can cause irritation to the animals (mainly chickens), which can lead to pecking and possible cannibalism! Luckily, we did not have that problem with only two chicks. Youll also need a poultry waterer and poultry feed dish. We used a yogurt cup that we cut in half and put small rocks in for the water so the little guys didnt drown, and to keep them from knocking it over.

We also suggest buying feed in 25 or 50lb bags. When we first bought the birds we had a 1lb bag for the chickens (medicated chicken feed) and a separate 1lb bag for the ducklings(Turkey feed). The feed store charged us a whopping $7 each. The feed goes fast so Id recommend buying the biggest bag you can afford. Later, we picked up a 25Lb bag for around $13. The first feed store led us to buy the wrong kind of feed, which could have killed our birds over time. The mistake we were told was Turkey feed can be feed to both ducklings and chicks growing up, which is wrong. Turkey food has way too much protein for these guys. The Turkey feed will cause the chicks to bulk up and too top heavy and they can break their growing legs, or break the legs of other chickens during mating.

Something very critical about ducklings is they love playing in water, and this can cause quite a mess. This is why most people use a cage with a screen floor so the water falls through for easy clean-up. Ducks should not be placed in wood chips because they try to eat their bedding, and this can kill them. We recommend using straw or a cage with a fine screen on the bottom. On the other hand, wood chips can work for chicks as bedding. Another purchase we recommend is a thermometer. You will need to keep the birds at certain temperatures and adjust accordingly as they grow (weekly). Chicks and ducks grow fast and we had to find bigger and bigger plastic storage tubs. At 38 days old they took up a huge portion of our garage in a make-shift coop. It leaked nasty water all over and was a pain to clean. Luckily, we moved to the farm where brooding homes are already built. The garage was getting horribly stinky, So remember to build a coop according to their final size.

Youll learn your birds all have different personalizes which Joe and I have come to love. The Americana chicken took on the personality as the leader early on. Wherever she went the rest would follow. Nugget the Barred Plymouth Rock chicken was very feisty and would pick at the others, but now has grown to be the smallest animal decreasing her aggression. Nugget was in our eyes also narcoleptic always falling asleep at any moment; a favorite spot was inside her food dish. Darkwing, the Black Indian Runner is more receptive to being held and pet than Moby the breed with an Afro. As Moby has gotten older she is more motherly by allowing the chicks to cuddle up next to her. We noticed even as young ducklings, they seem to be more anti-social and want to be held less still getting frightened by people. The chicks have been a much easier process and we have actually even taught them to perch on our fingers like regular house pet birds.

Raising your own livestock can be a very rewarding experience. You have the wonderful experience of seeing cute little babies grow into full size birds. Also, you will have fresh eggs all the time. If you raise enough of them you will also have fresh meat all the time. They fertilize the soil when they free-range. But the best part of all this, you know exactly where your food came from and what foods your food ate. It doesnt get much better than that in our opinion. I would suggest preparing in advance and doing your research. A site we love to research is www.backyardchickens.com.

Check out our poultry grow in the images below.

by: heart2heart03

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